Two notes on the body ordered the remains to be left on the roadside until 10:00 am "so that everyone could see the fate of spies". PHOTO: FILE

PESHAWAR: Militants on Wednesday dumped the mutilated body of a purported Afghan spy accused of collaborating on US drone strikes that killed a prominent warlord in Pakistan this month, officials said.

The body of the man identified as Asmatullah Kharoti was found in Wana, the main town of the South Waziristan tribal district, which borders Afghanistan.

Local officials said he had been shot dead and there were wounds on his neck.

Two notes on the body ordered the remains to be left on the roadside until 10:00 am “so that everyone could see the fate of spies”, and the second accusing him of being a spy and being responsible for US drone attacks.

“He is a spy and was giving information to US and ISAF forces in Afghanistan about our activities,” a local official quoted the note as saying.

“He is responsible for the killing of five of our senior members, including Mullah Nazir, in drone attacks. He confessed that he installed chips in digital Korans.”

Nazir was killed in a US drone strike on January 2. He was the main militant commander in South Waziristan and sent insurgents to fight US, NATO and Afghan government troops in Afghanistan, and was accused of sheltering al Qaeda.

He was one of the most high-profile victims of US drone strikes in Pakistan.

Two militants from Nazir’s group who spoke to AFP accused Kharoti of giving Nazir a digital Koran, fitted with chips to track his movements, during a meeting at an undisclosed location in Afghanistan.

“He presented Nazir and others digital Korans as a gift which were fitted with chips which help US drones strike their targets,” one of the militants said.

“When Mullah Nazir was returning, US drones fired missiles at him in Pakistani area,” he said.

The Deep State employing the good old colonial tactic, divide and rule and make things look like business as usual. The Orientalist narrative of the unruly Pashtun that engages in fratricide is played out time and again at the expense of the Pashtun people by the manipulative and exploitative Punjabis. The more things change the more they stay the same.

This is a terrible tragedy and hundreds of people who haven fallen foul of the Taliban have been disposed off this way by being called Spies. Imagine the trauma suffered by families of these victims who not only lost their loved ones but got stigmatized by having their loved ones called Spies. Despicable behaviour by the barbarian Taliban which must be condemned by one and all unequivocally.

He installed chips in digital korans. Yeah that makes sense. How exactly would you do that. Perhaps they mean he installed digital chips in korans. UNfortunately, this guy is probably just a scapegoat. If he is responsible for us getting 5 of their top leaders we should get his family out of there and give them the reward.